3 Injured When Dispute Escalates To Shooting At Kennesaw Eatery

KENNESAW, GA — Three people were injured after a verbal dispute escalated to a fight and a shooting Sunday morning at a Cobb Parkway Northwest restaurant, Kennesaw Police said.

The shooting happened around 8:45 a.m. at Martin's Restaurant, where two staff members engaged in an argument inside the popular eatery.

One of the workers involved in the dispute then called her husband, 46-year-old Kennesaw resident Jeffrey Alan Thomas, and notified him of the argument, police said.

When Thomas arrived, police said he confronted another employee. A physical altercation then occurred, and police said Thomas shot multiple rounds inside Martin's before leaving the scene with his wife.

Sometime after, officers were able to detain Thomas and his wife at their home and take them to the police station for questioning, police said.

It was during the interview that they learned the wife had a minor gunshot wound, police said. She declined medical treatment and was released, police said.

Both Thomas and the employee involved in the physical altercation suffered minor injuries unrelated to the shooting, police said.

Thomas was arrested on charges of five counts of aggravated assault, five counts of possession of firearm during commission of a felony, second-degree criminal damage to property and third-degree cruelty to children, police said. He was held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center without bond, police said.

“This was a dangerous situation that could have had a much worse outcome,” Kennesaw Police Chief
Bill Westenberger said in a news release. “Our officers and partners with Cobb County Police Department acted quickly to ensure the suspect was taken into custody and the community remained safe.”